DES MOINES, Iowa - The Drake Bulldogs have begun preparations for their
119th season of football as the players returned on Sunday (Aug. 5) for
"Reunion Day". Their
itinerary included physicals, meetings, a trip to the equipment room and having
headshot photos taken, awaited a group of 38 freshmen join 70 upperclassmen to
form this year's 108-man camp roster.

On Wednesday (Aug. 8) head coach Chris Creighton addressed the media in the Paul F. Morrison Room in the Knapp Center on media day touching a variety of topics about this year's squad.

OFFENSE: The Drake offense welcomes seven starters back from the
2011 team that went 9-2 en route to winning the Pioneer Football League,
including PFL Offensive Player of the Year in senior Mike Piatkowski (Wheaton, Ill.) at quarterback.

Piatkowski enters the season needing just 942 passing yards to become
the No. 1 passer in school history. With 6,927, he trails only Ira Vandever
(7,868; 1999-2002), after a 2011 season in which he passed for 2,934 yards,
second most in school history.

Piatkowski will be
throwing to a young but talented core of receivers led by returning starting
senior wide receiver Joey Orlando
(Park Ridge, Ill.), who caught 32 passes for 382 yards and six touchdowns last
season. Complimenting the
Bulldogs' attack will be senior tight end Kevin Marshall (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) who pulled in 33 passes for 280 yards and three
touchdowns in 2011 en route to earning honorable mention All-PFL accolades.

Senior running back Trey Morse (Elmo, Texas) headlines the
backfield after rushing for 353 yards on 107 carries, including three touchdown
runs.

Each of the top three tacklers, and four of the top five, return in 2012
from a defensive unit that ranked No. 2 in the FCS (No. 1 PFL) in rushing yards
allowed (77.2) and No. 7 (No. 1 PFL) in points allowed (17.8). The four are:
Moorehead (78 tackles), Merritt
(66), Ratelle
(63) and Coleman (51).

In addition, a defense that led the PFL and ranked No. 13 in the FCS in
tackles for loss returns the top three players in that category, in Moorehead
(21.), Coleman (16.5) and Gianaras (9.5), and the personnel who recorded 61.0
of the team's 85.0 TFLs.

The Bulldogs were one of the nation's top defenses in quarterback sacks
(5th FCS, 3rd PFL), and return the top three players in that category,
including Coleman (12.0; 10th FCS), Moorehead (10.0) and Gianaras (5.0).
Overall, players who accounted for 30.5 of Drake's 39 sacks in 2011 are back in
2012.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Special teams will be an area that the Bulldogs are
looking for strong contributions from a young but talented core of players.
Drake's lone returner is sophomore kicker Spencer Lee (Johnston, Iowa), who 50.2 yards per kickoff on 30 attempts.

KICKOFF 2012: The Bulldogs have their sights set on the season-opener, Thursday,
Aug. 30, 2012, as cross-town foe Grand View invades Drake Stadium for a 7:00
p.m. kickoff.